England Things
by Only Sarah
Summary: Zoey, accompanied by Michael, use her 'Hands on a Blix Van' prize to go visit a certain someone in England over spring break.


_Running scared_

_Running free_

_Full of life, got no money_

_Yeah that's us._

_Twenty Somethings._

_ -Judah and the Lion_

* * *

_Dear Ms. Brooks,_

_We are writing to inform you that you have not yet claimed your prize from 2007's Blix Corp. 'Hands on a Blix Van' contest. As indicated in the rules, prizes must be claimed (or pre-arranged) no later than May 01, 2008, or the prize will be forfeited._

_Your prize included:_

_Round trip airfare for two on Blix Corp. airlines_

_Complementary meals for the duration of your flight_

_Please contact us immediately should you wish to claim your prize._

_Wishing you well,_

_ Amanda B. Ryder_

_ Executive, Blix Corp._

Shock was a bit of an understatement when she opened this letter. Life had been so chaotic that she had all but forgotten about winning this contest – something she had gloated about for days after. Her parents had shown up at PCA a mere three weeks after, dropping the England news, so world travel hadn't exactly been in the front of her mind.

Her parents had paid her way from England to PCA when she came home to them crying. She claimed homesickness, loneliness, all of the common factors that one normally experiences when moving five thousand miles away from their last school, but her parents knew better. She had moved to PCA without looking back for a second. Covington should have been a breeze.

But hearing the words, "I don't just miss her, I'm in love with her," come from Chase's mouth changed a lot in Zoey Brooks' mind.

Months had passed since she had come back to PCA to find that her best friend had actually switched schools to be with her. They had had no contact. It physically hurt to talk to him, she could see the pain in his eyes. All she wanted to do was make it better, make him happy, but she couldn't. She wanted to be with him, but she was scared.

Michael and Logan had gotten a new roommate – James, and while they had gone on a couple dates, Zoey knew that she was making a mistake being with him, so she ended it. She couldn't understand what the issue was, he was so perfect, and she couldn't bring herself to face him. She avoided him at all costs and he eventually moved into a single room as the tension between him and the rest of the group was too much.

When she received that letter, noting that spring break was fast approaching, she knew what she had to do.

* * *

_Lola and Quinn both had agreed that Michael would be the best person to ask, since he was Chase's best friend and of all people deserved to see him the most._

_She passed by James in the hall, being quite careful not to make eye contact, before stopping at room 148. _

_She knocked before entering, finding Michael was alone, as she had hoped._

"_Have you talked to Chase lately?", she asked, not even trying to be subtle._

_Caught off guard, Michael was suspicious. "Yeah, I talked to him last week. He said he's been so busy with school."_

"_Well I was thinking, and I know Covington has a semester break at the same time as us. If he's going to still be there…"_

_Michael's eyes narrowed, not knowing what was coming. "What are you going on about?"_

"_Remember that contest I won? The Blix Contest?", she smiled. "What if you and I go visit Chase on spring break?"_

"_You serious?"_

"_Yes, I'm serious." Zoey laughed. "You just need to make sure he'll be there for the week, and I say we go surprise him. We can stay at my parent's place or on campus with him."_

_Before she knew it, Michael was out of his seat, lifting her in the air._

* * *

Michael had gotten it out of him – Chase was in fact going to be on campus during his semester break. Most of his dormmates were from the UK, so many of them were going home for the break.

Zoey remembered how intensive the schooling was there compared to PCA, so their semester breaks weren't spent vacationing but reviewing.

.

.

.

The date was set. Her and Michael packed up with the promise from their friends they'd email pictures with Chase when they found him.

They boarded their plane at LAX and departed for London's Heathrow Airport, only a twenty-minute drive from Covington. They were set to land at approximately 3pm London time.

The flight was relatively calm. Being a private airplane, both teenagers were able to sleep for most of the flight and woke up well rested right before landing.

By the time they left the airport, it was dark outside. It was February, and while winters in Malibu were dry and hot, England's were damp and snowy. She didn't mind the cold.

The cab pulled up to the back of the Dormitory. Covington was a smaller school, with only one large dorm for the high school boys, Lambton Hall, which sat directly beside the high school girl's dorm, Milton Hall. She had lived in Milton for the two months she attended the school.

Lambton was more traditional than the dormitories at PCA. It had a large study hall as well as a student lounge, but was old and creaky. They walked into the

She was just about to kick herself for not finding out his room number _before_ showing up as the dorm housed two hundred different students, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

Across the lounge in an armchair was a familiar curly haired boy wearing a PCA shirt.

She could feel her stomach drop, her heart started racing.

He looked up, they locked eyes, and his jaw dropped.

His hair was shorter than when she last saw him. Tidier. But still curly.

It felt as if the world had stopped for a moment, only being broken by Michael.

"CHASE!", he exclaimed, running across the room. He pushed a chair out of the way before running to him, picking him up and hugging him. Chase laughed as Michael jumped up and down, almost like a child, unable to contain his excitement.

She and Chase locked eyes, before she ran up and hugged him.

She felt like she was home for the first time in months.

Love was something that wasn't exactly unfamiliar to Zoey Brooks. She loved her family, her friends, her school. But being in love, that was a feeling she had never experienced until she looked him in the eyes for the first time in months. She didn't care about anything that had happened prior to that exact moment.

Michael broke the silence that ensued after, "You know what, I should call my grandma and let her know we landed safely. You guys go talk, I'll catch up." He said with a wink directed at Zoey.

"You sure?" Chase said. "My room is 46A on the third floor.'

"Yeah go ahead. I'll catch y'all later."

.

.

.

Zoey and Chase walked in silence up the stairs to the third floor, before reaching his room, the first at the top of the stairs. He unlocked his door and the two walked in.

He started to open his mouth, but words didn't come.

"Bit surprised to see us?" Zoey laughed.

"Surprised is an understatement." He smiled, shaking his head. He walked over to the couch in his room, sitting down, and she followed. "What are you two even doing here?"

She smiled, her heart racing in her chest. She took a breath, "I came to do this,".

Taking his hand, she leaned forward and kissed him.

At that moment, nothing else in the world mattered. She fell in love, one breath at a time. All it took was one kiss and she was all his, totally and unconditionally.

She pulled away, smiling at him, before he took her face in his hands and kissed her again.

The world could have stopped, and neither one of them would have cared.

* * *

**Playing around with an idea. If this is well received, I may turn this into a bit of a short series, maybe carry it out until Chase comes back to PCA. When this show was airing, I always questioned why Zoey didn't ever use her Blix prize. Would've been something I may have liked to see. **

**It's come out that Sean Flynn (Chase) was the one to take a step away from Zoey 101 - hence him being MIA in Season 4, but I like to imagine what would've been had that not been the case.**

**Read this as "Alone at PCA" never happened, and that Zoey and James didn't work out (as most of us had wished for).**

**My writing is rusty, go check out my other stuff if you'd like to read something more coherent. I've been binge watching the show instead of studying for my exams which is NOT a good use of my time. Oh well.**

**\- Sarah**


End file.
